It's Easier
by Xazz
Summary: When he surfaced again Malik was cheering, some fifty yards back, and Altair felt himself smile. -oneshot-


Had another 'free request' day on my blog yesterday. This time for one-line fics about pairings. These are all super short but it was fun seeing how far out I could stretch a single sentence, there are some multi-line ones though because of dialog or because I felt it was required. But for the most part, just long, sentences.

**NOTICE**: Because FF is going to/has done a purge of all MA-like fics I will no longer be posting any more MA chapters or stories here. To stay up to date on my fics please go to my AO3 under the same name as here or my writing blog shotgunsandstars on Tumblr.

* * *

AltMal

Seal Beach AU

"Altair," Malik said, drawing his attention to his mouth and the curve of his lips, "Do you love me?"

Altair stared at him like he couldn't comprehend, he didn't want to answer, because answering would make it real and if it was real it would hurt and Altair was so tired of being hurt; he opened his mouth, "Don't ask me that, you know the answer," he told him softly, because Altair couldn't say it himself, because he was scared, because he wasn't ready for it, Malik's face was strangely understanding, and it was good to know someone understood him at least.

—

Seal Beach AU

This was a really stupid, horrible, bad idea, and yet like everything Malik told him to do Altair did it because he was physically incapable of saying no, that was really the only reason he was out in the middle of the surf using Kadar's surf board with Malik coaching him through it; Altair didn't like it though, he was totally going to eat the water even though he knew how to get up on a board (in theory mind you, he'd never actually managed to stand on a board even when he'd tried to learn in Hawaii, where it seemed like everyone surfed, or at least everyone at Altair's school it seemed like and he'd wanted to fit in) but eventually Malik told him to catch a swell: he managed to get to his feet but fell off after about five seconds, when he surfaced again Malik was cheering, some fifty yards back, and Altair felt himself smile.

—

Seal Beach AU

It had been an okay date, not the worst Altair had ever been on, but by far not the best, it had just been… sort of awkward, since Malik was his best friend he'd had in a long time and now they were trying this 'dating' thing and yeah, it was kinda weird, though he'd tried to be cool and other then a few awkward moments where neither knew if something was okay or not their 'date' had just been like any other time they hung out and had been easy, he had a feeling that if they could get past the 'weird' that dating Malik would be easy: they were currently at one of those 'weird' points though at the end of the date and were about to go their separate ways and didn't know how to break it since both seemed both eager to leave and reluctant to do so, wanting to stay longer, then- thankfully- Malik figured it out, "I'll see you at school tomorrow," and pressed a chaste kiss to his mouth, it made his stomach do funny things and he slid into his car though he sat there for several seconds silently vibrating, and feeling perhaps way too happy then he had the right to.

* * *

Sterek

It wasn't until he met Stiles that Derek realized he had a neck fetish- as weird as that sounded- but there wasn't anything else he could use to describe it since whenever he was near the younger boy his eyes would just be drawn to the curving slope of his pale neck and throat; he sort of wanted to put his face into it.

* * *

Destiel

There was the sound of wind and even though Dean couldn't see him he knew that everything was now going to be okay and his grip on his knife relaxed.

—

Dean sighed and sat wearily on the hood of his baby, an open beer in his hand, "Cas," he said to the night, not even knowing if the angel could hear him, or if he cared to listen, he'd done a lot of awful stuff to the angel, too much, and if he never listened again Dean wouldn't blame him, not really, "If you're listening, I just wanted to say," he took a pause, drumming his fingers on the neck of his beer bottle, and then said, "I'm sorry," nothing happened, figured; he took a swig of his bottle tiredly and looked down at the dirt, his foot kicking a pebble, then there was that familiar noise, the sound of rushing air and wings and he looked up sharply; and there he was.

* * *

Des/Salai

This was a stupid idea but his cousin had dragged him along for this consultation for portraits (who the fuck even had real painted portraits done anymore? Oh right his stupid rich relatives, he tried not to seethe) and he was sitting in the… living room he guessed it was, waiting and trying not to die of boredom when a door upstairs opened and Desmond just looked up cause it alleviated said boredom and okay now he wasn't regretting this dumb thing cause a red head in a three-piece suit came down from the upstairs and damn he was hot.

—

Sharks and Lionfish AU

He was pretty sure his heart was going to burst strait out of his chest, seriously, he was nervous, even though they'd talked about this, fuck they're already eaten hearts together, it wasn't like this was a new thing or anything like that; still he was wary as always, but the pale man (as their kind tended to do when they weren't careful and broadcasted their thoughts without meaning to) already knew what he was going to ask when he met him at the beach, pushing his gray head above the surf: the red head smiled as they sat in the shallows, letting the tide wash over his legs turning it into a many banded tail, and he said, "Of course I'll be your heart you silly thing," and yeah, his heart pretty much burst at that point he was so happy.

* * *

Ezio/himself

He knew the others would laugh at him if they found out and he cared enough about what they thought not to tell; still how did he tell everyone he loved himself more then them and the only way he knew was when he looked in a mirror.

* * *

Steve/Tony

You'd think that with hands as big and clumsy looking as Steve's that he'd be heavy handed, as it was he'd broken just about every smart phone Tony had ever tried to get him to use (and that was when he could actually figure it out) but sometimes he was reminded that Steve hadn't always been Mr. Brick-Shit-House, he'd once been a skinny kid from New York and his hands could be delicate: he was always reminded of this when he found hand drawn pictures of himself or Pepper lying around the tower like forgotten leaves and he'd smile and keep them in a drawer at his desk so he could look at them whenever he wanted.

* * *

Desmond/Alex

+Shaun

Shaun was really bored, not just bored but really bored, like not even his extensive collection history books couldn't keep his attention, so he was fiddling on his computer when his phone beeped; he had mail: boredly he picked it up and checked the message which read 'Hey Shaun, guess what me and Des are doing :D' in the subject line. Scowling Shaun checked the photo no doubt it going to be something horribly juvenile like then getting drunk at Ezio's or playing darts with Altair (Altair always won, his aim was killer and could hit a bullseye or a triple twenty even when mostly drunk, Shaun didn't know how he did it); but it wasn't anything like that, instead it was Desmond, mostly naked, hands up above his head and covered in Alex's- god he couldn't even believe he was thinking this- tentacles: what was even more embarrassing was the heat that grew in Shaun's face because damn that asshole- as he liked Desmond too!- and Alex was just mocking him: he decided not to tell either of them that he saved the photo for… later.

—

All Desmond wanted after a long night of work was to go home, take a shower, and crawl into bed with his man, really, that was it, but when he got home to all the lights off he was suspicious, since Alex didn't sleep, he scanned the front room carefully before stepping inside and closing the door, though he didn't take his hand off the door knob, "Alex?" he called, "You home," though there wasn't a reason he shouldn't be, he frowned and took a step away from the door, then suddenly, all the lights flashed on and he yelped and something dropped down from the ceiling and snatched him right off the ground, "Damnit Alex!" he yelled, scowling down at one Alex Mercer who'd been pretending to be a side table, Alex just grinned that obnoxious grin of his and laughed a little; well, he'd be getting no sleep tonight it seemed: damnit.

—

It was always a strange feeling, not bad, definitely good, really, really, good, like dozens of hands and fingers touching him all over at once, it was still a bit creepy though, especially when he thought about what Alex was doing to him too hard, and a bit scary, he'd seen the news footage, he knew what the Blacklight could do, sometimes it seemed like a story though since they were always strangely gentle on his skin and warm and felt good pressed… fuck.

* * *

Malik+Alex

There was something wrong, something very wrong, Altair shouldn't be acting like this, he had no reason to kill these people, yet they were, they were dead and what was the point? Altair turned to him and his grin was crooked and horrible, "What's the matter Malik?" he asked and it sounded bad, funny, and so very wrong, "Not what you were expecting?" and he took a step back when Altair suddenly wasn't Altair but someone else, "Now, I think it's time we had a talk," the man who wasn't Altair said with a wide, deadly, smile.

* * *

Shaun/Rebecca

Shaun wasn't a morning person, at all, there was a reason he stayed up late working until Desmond finally yelled at him from his bed in the Animus room to go to bed because he couldn't sleep with all the typing and stool creaking- screw that American though Shaun was very quiet!- but he only got a few hours of sleep usually and lived on tea in the morning until he was awake enough to function: that morning Becca was in the little kitchen making coffee before she had her first Red Bull of the day and he started a kettle before slumping into his chair, running a hand through his still bed disheveled hair; he heard the kettle scream but couldn't make himself get up, thankfully Becca took it off the heat for him so that there was some blessed silence as Becca hummed to herself fixing her coffee. Then, quite to his surprise a cup was placed in front of him and he looked up at Becca even as she walked by, ruffling his hair, still humming happily to herself and out the kitchen with her coffee; he looked back at the cup, filled with tea, and gave it first a wary sniff and then an even warier sip: it was perfect, where the hell had Becca learned to brew a proper cup of tea?

—

continuation :D

The Animus hummed and Becca was bobbing to something Shaun couldn't hear, Desmond was out in the warehouse with Lucy, practicing the moves he'd picked up from Ezio, Shaun left Becca to her music and her baby and went to the kitchen where he opened the fridge; good god it was terrifying in here- how could there be that many Red Bulls in one place?- and carefully, to not dislodge any of the precariously stacks of take out food, he selected a Red Bull and went back to the Animus room, "Becca," he called, loud enough that he was sure to be heard over her music: Rebecca perked up, "Need a recharge?" he asked, waggling the little silver and cobalt can at her.

Her face split in two from the smile on her face, "Yeah!" she said enthusiastically, "Thanks a lot Shaun," she said in her sweet voice and he handed it to her; she popped the top and took a drink and Shaun was very much not watching her neck as she chugged half the can, she smiled at him again and he offered one back before going back to his station; this was… nice.

* * *

Marvey

One day Harvey's eyes were going to roll so hard they fell out of his head, or that was what Mike thought at least when his rolled his eyes- not for the first time- at the state of Mike's tie (his ties were fine damnit!) and stopped before they went into the court room, "You," Harvey said and jerked him closer, "are a reflection of me, so act like it," and then he straitened Mike's tie and smoothed out his lapels before practically kicking him into the court room.

* * *

Sabriel

It was sort of funny, to see an all powerful archangel looking up at him, scowling really, it made Sam grin, and Gabriel just frowned deeper at him, "You're too tall," Gabriel said, and Sam was about to ask how someone could be too tall- not that he wasn't aware, he got enough 'moose' comments from Crowley to last him a life time- when Gabriel reached up and suddenly grabbed him by the ears and yanked him down to his eye level, "Better," he said and then kissed him hard on the mouth; he flew away before Sam could even stand up properly.

* * *

Shaun+Des

"Desmond you bloody git, get your feet off the couch," Shaun bitched, he was always bitching really and Desmond had just learned to ignore it most of the time.

"But I'm laying here," Desmond said looking deeply offended at Shaun to was sitting at the opposite end of the couch with one of his big, old tomes, Shaun just gave him a dirty look and to make his point Desmond crossed his ankles.

"I don't want your gross feet near me," and in a move of athleticism Desmond wasn't aware Shaun could pull off turned so he was facing Desmond and shoved his feet at Desmond so that they fell off the couch, "And keep 'em there," he scowled, Desmond frowned at him and put his feet back on the couch, Shaun knocked them back off and Desmond very purposefully put them back up and shoved them under Shaun's ass; Shaun yelped and kicked Desmond and it resulted in a sort tussling match with legs and feet till they were both out of breath, Desmond's feet planted against the underside of Shaun's thighs which were pointed mostly vertical and Shaun had his feet on Desmond's shins, "Git," Shaun growled, Desmond just laughed, after a few seconds Shaun joined him.

* * *

Lucy+Rebecca

Back for More AU

Lucy yelped when Becca practically dragged her towards the library when she made her way to the Umbrella, waving at Clay and Desmond who were basically camped out on some picnic tables amid a sea of backpacks and other school bags, she almost tripped over her own feet, and demanded what Becca's problem was when they stood at the opening to the bathrooms by the library, "Are you really going out with Clay?" she asked.

She stared and blinked, "Yes?" and for some reason she was confused, she'd told Becca that she might have a boyfriend now but she'd never actually said Clay's name, though really she should have known since Becca knew her almost too well; Becca nodded to herself and then produced a little foil wrapped package, "BECCA!" she shrieked because holy shit her best friend was handing her a condom, Becca just laughed and said that it was better getting it from her then asking her stepdad to take her to the store to get some; it fully put into perspective Lucy snatched the condom, put it into her purse and stalked back to the Umbrella, where Desmond, Clay and now Shaun were waiting, Becca giggled as she followed after her.

* * *

Connor+Aveline

Seal Beach AU

Connor looked up when his door opened without knocking, "Damnit Aveline I told you to knock before you— What the hell are you wearing?" he sort of trailed off when he saw her in the door way looking like a baby doll, it was sort of creepy actually, "Is it 'dress like a Barbie' day and I wasn't informed? And for the record, no I won't be your Ken."

"Shut up Con, it's called Lolita, what do you think?" and she did a slow turn on a pair of heels, he didn't even know his sister owned heels.

"I've never seen so much lace and ruffles in my life," he said blandly, sort of sorry, mostly not, she scowled at him.

"You're an asshole Connor," and then she left, slamming the door as she went; well, that was interesting.

—

Seal Beach AU

Aveline squawked and was seriously going to bolt her door closed one day she swore to god if Connor picked the lock of her door one more time, she yelled at him as he walked in like he owned the place, and this was her bedroom, "Wanna go down to the beach as pirates and scare the tourists?" he asked her, all wide, smug, grin that she usually detested, except when he had ideas like this.

"Get out, I have to get dressed," she said, he laughed and retreated into the hallway.

* * *

Tony/Bruce

Tony really was too smart for his own good sometimes… most of the time, but don't tell Tony that becausethen he'd never fit through the door and while JARVIS could do a lot Bruce was pretty sure he couldn't magically make all the doors in Stark Tower bigger, which was why when Tony suddenly started laughing from across the lab, playing with some sort of holographic gizmo that made the Iron Man suit perform with maybe 1% more efficiency Bruce just chuckled to himself and looked back down at his own work, shaking his head fondly.

* * *

Ezio/Rosa

Carnival hadn't turned out exactly how Ezio had expected it to, for all the good and bad reasons and now he was leaning against one of the barriers of a garden box, watching the fireworks when a shadow seemed to drop down out of nowhere; she did that, he wasn't surprised, but he still smiled at Rosa and said hello, as he always did, "What's wrong Ezio?" she asked him, she always knew when he was upset, a woman's sense she said, after a hesitation he told her, about Christina, to his surprise she'd actually smiled, "Sounds like a long day," and she leaned back against the barrier, head tipped back, and she seemed to glow red, gold and blue from the fireworks, he told her they looked good on her, she just laughed, a brilliant smile on her face, and Ezio felt better.

—

Usually, he didn't stay, he hadn't stayed since Cristina really, but this time, even when the sex was over Ezio lingered and watched her breathe and sleep seemingly captivated by the rise and fall of her chest, he didn't realize when he'd become the man who would stay again, it seemed Rosa had a better influence on him then he thought.

* * *

Altair+Desmond

Seal Beach AU

At first he just ignored it, but when he didn't stop he eventually stilled his hand on his little mouse and looked up from his Minecraft, Desmond was at the foot of his bed, staring at him, "Desmond, it's eleven O'clock, what are you doing?"

Then, in a small voice he said, "I wet the bed," fuuuuuuuuuuck, he thought they were past this! He hadn't wet the bed in over a year, why all the sudden was he doing this?

Desmond looked extremely upset by this and like he knew he'd done a bad thing and about to cry; Altair quickly slapped her laptop closed, "Hey, hey, it's okay," he said even as Desmond sniffled and Altair crawled to the end of the bed, "Lets go clean up the mess, okay?" and he took Desmond's hand and had him go take a bath, knowing he could do so on his own, and went and changed the sheets and threw them in the laundry, along with his big stuffed pigeon which also smelled of piss; that done he went and got Desmond out of the bath, dried him off and put him in fresh PJs before taking him back to his bedroom and laying him down next to him before picking up his laptop again, Desmond curled up against him while he played Minecraft in the dark.

* * *

Torn/Ashelin

Maybe it was the uniform, yeah it had to be the uniform, otherwise he'd have to go get a psyche evaluation for why he felt the way he felt about Ashelin, the sort of deep rooted loyalty and affection that had no real place in his heart; they were in the middle of a war damnit, he couldn't afford to be distracted by the Baron's pretty daughter: that didn't mean his heart didn't flutter whenever she happened to smile at him, and he just did his best to scowl over it.

* * *

Ezio+Desmond

Ezio eyed his cousin, like really eyed his cousin, "You okay?" he asked, and Desmond just sighed, a really stupid grin on his face, "Yo, earth to Desmond, you in there?" and he waved his hand in front of Desmond's face, his little cos didn't even seem to notice, he just had that dumb, dreamy, look on his face; it took several seconds for Ezio to realize what his was looking at, shit, did he look that pathetic when he was in love?

* * *

Antique Habibis

He really wasn't paying attention to the movie, he probably should have been, but Rauf had seen it so many times it couldn't hold his interest, he was scrolling through Tumblr, going through his #short sword tag and looking for new content that didn't look awful, when Skype pinged, he rose a brow at it and opened it, though everyone he would Skype was sitting in the room with him -habibi: hey- Rauf cast a glance at Yusuf who was sitting next to him on the couch, using his own laptop, -you: you realize you can talk to me right I'm sitting right here- -habibi: yeah but I don't want to bother the others- -you: okay, what is it?- -habibi: I want you- -you: want me to what?- -habibi: omg are you that out of touch with English? You need to brush up- -you: brush up on your Dutch and /then/ we'll talk. Now stop being annoying- -habibi: What do you think I mean?- -you: I think I want you to give me a strait answer- -habibi: I'm horny- and Rauf turned and looked at Yusuf again, Yusuf was looking back at him, his lips quirked in a certain way and all the blood in his body rushed south; oh, Yusuf grinned when Rauf slapped first his, and then Yusuf's laptop closed and then pulled the younger man off the couch, laptops tucked under their arms, no one noticed when they left.

* * *

AltMar

It was almost insulting that Altair could be taken down by someone that small, well not really insulting, just sort of frustrating- he'd taken down bigger men, stronger men, and here he was being outdone by a girl!- he wasn't… going to say that though, as Maria wouldn't take kindly to that so he stayed quiet and kept his guard up even as Maria slapped her sword against his again and again, dancing within arms length and he froze, knowing he'd lost when she tapped the tip of her sword against his crotch, she grinned, "I win," she said, absolutely delighted in Altair's weakness and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before spinning away, it was all Altair could do to keep his feet when she left him there at the edge of the ring.

—

Lily in the Valley AU

Malik frowned, annoyed, when he entered Altair's room and saw that Maria was there, he told himself not to get jealous, he really did but it was one thing if Altair seemed to enjoy her company, he could live with that, but something just made him seethe to see Sawsan laying all over her; she didn't even act like that to him and his jaw tensed, then he swallowed it all down when Altair turned to him, face shrouded in his black hood, and seemed at ease, he could handle this, he could handle this; if Altair was happy (a word he rarely used to describe him ever) then he would have to handle this.

* * *

Salai+Leo

Sharks and Lionfish AU

It was just them today, his heart was down the coast with some of the others, today it was just him and their daughter, their pretty little daughter, as he opened the door to Leo's house and called his name, he didn't really expect an answer, Leo was old now (though don't say that to his face!) and didn't have the energy he used to, he let go of his daughter's hand and she called, "Grandpapa, grandpapa!" and ran to go find him while he followed at a slower pace and he found him in his studio (surprising no one) sitting in a chair with his sketch book, his daughter already on his knee, "Mama, mama," his daughter said excitedly to him, "grandpapa said he would draw me," and he smiled and went up to Leo who gave him an old smile that was no less bright then it had ever been.

"Good to see you," Leo told him and he hugged the old human tightly, but not too tightly, humans were frail and old and easy to brea when they were this old.

"Always is," Salai said with his own smile before his daughter insisted Leo draw her, which Leo did with a cheerful laugh.

* * *

Des/Clay

Desmond giggled (he didn't know the last time he'd done that but it was the only word to describe it) when Clay traced a series of moles on his thigh with careful fingertips, he seemed to be very interested in them, like he was mapping out constellations in the heavens and Desmond was a bit ticklish, Clay looked at him and gave him a smile, Desmond smiled back and Clay went to trace his new constellations with his tongue.

* * *

Lucy/Clay

Back for More AU

The problem with living in such a small city was that, eventually, you'd done everything there was to do, even if the things were fun even they lost their shine after a while; but there was one thing that never got old, the beach, and the water walk along South Roosevelt where people liked to do their morning jog along the two mile long stretch of wide sidewalk against the ocean, Clay and Lucy were doing the walk after one of Clay's volleyball things, and were just enjoying the ocean and the breeze and the sunset, walking and holding hands, neither of them wanted to be anywhere else.

* * *

and that's all she wrote!


End file.
